Facebook tests Buy button

Darren Allan, 18th July 2014

Facebook is testing out a new feature which provides a Buy button to allow users of the social network to simply click and purchase items directly.

In other words, Facebook is looking at ways to bring online shopping within itself, providing direct sales to businesses and presumably being able to leverage more in terms of monetisation as a result.

In practical terms, when products pop up on the News Feed or Pages, the price and Buy button will be underneath (as you can see in the image above) – and you just click to buy.

This feature is only in testing at the moment, as mentioned, with just a few SMBs in the US taking part. Facebook notes that it's currently gathering feedback on the system, and we can expect more details to be shared before long.

Naturally, the worry will be handing over payment details to Facebook, which is why the social network is stressing that the feature is being built with privacy and security in mind.

Facebook stated: "None of the credit or debit card information people share with Facebook when completing a transaction will be shared with other advertisers, and people can select whether or not they'd like to save payment information for future purchases."

So you don't have to have your credit card details saved on the social network, but obviously the hope is that you will do for the sake of one-click convenience, and eventually Facebook will become one of your main online shopping channels.